Return-path: [log in to unmask] From: [log in to unmask] Full-name: AOL News Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 19:02:31 EST Subject: Bond Takes Martinis the Healthy Way MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Unknown (No Version) To: undisclosed-recipients:; Bond Takes Martinis the Healthy Way .c The Associated Press By EMMA ROSS LONDON (AP) - Perhaps James Bond's apparent vibrant health has something to do with the way the suave secret agent takes his martinis - shaken, not stirred. Canadian researchers report in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal that martinis have more antioxidant power when shaken. Studies indicate antioxidants can help fight diseases such as cancer and heart disease by offsetting the harm oxygen does to cells as people age. In the martini study, scientists from the University of Western Ontario tested seven shaken martinis, six stirred martinis and five martinis with air bubbled through them. They added hydrogen peroxide to the drinks - prepared traditionally with two parts gin to one part vermouth - to simulate oxygen's action in the body, and investigated how each drink reacted with the chemical. The martini's signature olive, which contains the antioxidant vitamin E, was not included in the study. Shaken martinis were twice as good at neutralizing the chemical than the stirred mixtures, the researchers found. Bubbling air through the mixture gave results similar to shaken martinis, which indicated it is probably not the aeration from vigorous shaking that brings the benefit, they said. The scientists said they didn't know why shaken martinis were superior antioxidants to the stirred variety, and simply concluded that ``007's profound state of health may be due, at least in part, to compliant bartenders.'' Beckie Moore, a nutritionist at the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research unit at Cambridge University, said that while the martini seems to have worked as an antioxidant, it contains minimal amounts of the disease-fighting compounds. ``We suggest James Bond go for the fruits and vegetables,'' she said. AP-NY-12-16-99 1901EST Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. Announcement: America Online has added Reuters newswires to News Profiles. To add Reuters articles to your daily news delivery, go to KW: <A HREF="aol://5862:146">News Profiles</A> and click on "Modify Your News Profiles." Then click "Edit" and add Reuters from the list on the left. To edit your profile, go to keyword <A HREF="aol://1722:NewsProfiles">NewsProfiles</A>. For all of today's news, go to keyword <A HREF="aol://1722:News">News</A>.